Kitty Porterfield was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in large measure made up of first- and second-generation European immigrants where she says the community valued the importance of young people and fully supported their success. When Porterfield and her soon to be husband, Jovan arrived in Alexandria in 1963, things were much different from Boston where she attended college, and at the time, she struggled to imagine raising children here. Now, over 60 years later, after raising her three children here and witnessing the transformation of Alexandria, Porterfield refers to herself as blessed to have lived in two such nurturing communities.
Porterfield’s contributions to that transformation are many and significant. Serving as a volunteer and champion to many organizations and movements, she often lent her political talents to a worthy cause. The list of boards she has been a member or chair of is impressive and endless, including the Senior Services of Alexandria, Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Community College Board, Northern Virginia Community College Fund, Hopkins House, US Rowing Association and countless others.
During critical years when a new boathouse project was being approved and constructed, Porterfield was serving as the President of the Alexandria Crew Boosters at TC Williams High School (TCW). The result, The Dee Campbell Rowing Center was dedicated in 1986 and remains the only high school boathouse owned by a public school system in Northern Virginia. Today the center continues to serve Alexandria City youth and adults year-round through various rowing programs. In addition, Porterfield served as the Founding Chair for the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints, still presented annually by the Alexandria City High School (ACHS, formerly TC Williams High School) Crew Boosters. This event is recognized as a premiere rowing event as well as serving as a key fundraiser for the ACHS crew programs and still follows closely the format Porterfield first implemented at the inaugural event.
Most recognized and arguably most impactful of Porterfield’s contributions to our community may be as founder and first Executive Director of the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria (SFA). Prompted by working through the difficult college application process with her elder daughter Karen, Porterfield realized how overwhelming the process might be for students at TCW whose families might not have the same experiences and resources as hers. This compassionate thought led Porterfield to reach out to a not just a few of her daughter’s peers to provide assistance but to pursue forming an organization to help the broader community. Kitty advocated for her idea, enlisted peers to help, lobbied the Superintendent and members of the School Board of Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), solicited support from community leadership and researched like-minded organizations, including shadowing a community-based scholarship fund in Cleveland, Ohio. In the fall of 1985, the SFA was formed and when ACPS generously agreed to fund the Executive Director position, Kitty applied among others and was selected as the first Executive Director. A few months later stemming from a chance meeting on the metro, Porterfield’s conversation with then City Councilman Bob Calhoun led to the City of Alexandria allocating a $25,000 matching grant to get the SFA started and that funded some of the initial scholarships awarded.
According to Porterfield there was no formula for the organization, “I essentially replicated the process I went through with my own children” she says. As the sole employee of the SFA, she met with students and families for hours, helping them navigate the college application and financial aid processes. When it came time to evaluate the first scholarship applications, she recruited friends and members of the community to read submissions, setting a precedent still used to review SFA applications today. Porterfield tells that the SFA’s early success was aided by a network of school counselors at local colleges who often collaborated and allowed Porterfield to work with them. She reflects on their kindness and helpfulness especially as they assisted her when confronted with potential roadblocks. In the spring of 1986, Porterfield’s vision became a reality as the first SFA scholarships were awarded - $7,000 in awards were presented to 8 students.
Now in its 40th year, the SFA continues to have an incredible impact on the community. Much of Porterfield’s groundwork for how the SFA would operate remains in place today. With offices in the two main ACHS campuses, the SFA has multiple staff members available every day for students to still get that same level of assistance and encouragement Porterfield provided by herself in those early days. The community continues to support the SFA and volunteers still review all SFA scholarship applications. Since those first awards in 1986, the SFA has awarded over $20 million to almost 6000 ACPS graduates.
Beyond her role as Executive Director at the SFA, Porterfield's expertise was recognized and she was hired by the Alexandria City Public Schools as the Director of Communications. She continued to serve in similar roles and published numerous books and articles on school communications, social media and youth and family issues, further extending her impact.
Porterfield’s son Michael, also a strong proponent of the SFA and former SFA Board Trustee, once referred to the SFA as his mother’s fourth child. Reminded of that, Kitty reflects “It seems so natural to have been my fourth child, it fit my personal ethos. While tending to my own children, I knew many of their peers also needed that same care and feeding”. Deservedly so, Porterfield speaks of the SFA with parental pride. She continues to serve as an advisor when asked and to offer welcome encouragement to the current SFA staff and board of trustees. Though she once struggled to imagine raising her children here, in what was then a sleepy little town, she has helped nurture thousands of Alexandria students in addition to Karen, Deborah and Michael. At the SFA, Kitty Porterfield is already legendary but it is exciting to see the broader community recognize her as a true Living Legend of Alexandria.